Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to the remote distribution and playback of television programs and, in particular, to mechanisms for enabling a shared, social viewing experience between sites that are geographically remote from one another.
Description of the Related Art
The world of television is about to change. For 70 years, the television box has been completely disconnected from the rest of the household. With the advent of wireless networks, connected set-top-box and tablets, our old television is now about to be integrated in our daily life.
For example, we can watch a movie and check information about that actor on an iPad sitting on our laps. The so-called “second screen” can augment the vision of the show we are watching, allowing us to enjoy it even more.
Watching a show on television with an iPad connected to the world allows for a completely new scenario, where television can become (or return to being) social. We all get together for a great game, to watch it with friends in front of the television. However, in most cases we are unable or unwilling to travel, but we still would love to chat about a show with our friends, live, while the show is on television. With the support of a second-screen device, this is finally possible: we can communicate with all the people watching the same show we are watching, just because they have an iPad on their laps too.
The opportunity is incredible, because making television social means changing the way we watch television. Once you give a user this capability, there is no turning back. There is nothing more depressing than watching television alone. Once you are able to share the experience with friends—even if they are far away—you will never go back: watching television alone is going to be a thing of the past.
This scenario opens up a new opportunity for advertisers, who are investing $200B every year to show commercials on a box, without knowing if the consumer is actually watching the show, or what she likes, or giving her any ability to interact with the ad. With a second screen, the advertiser will be able to target the user and deliver ads that become interactive, not on the television, but on the second screen: I see a commercial about a tennis shoe on television, and I have the ability to buy it on the tablet. This is the holy grail of advertising.
As of today, a few players in the market have tried to tackle this enormous opportunity. However, all have failed to create an experience that actually takes advantage of the dramatic shift happening to our favorite pastime. Most social television applications have been focused on so-called “gamification”, providing check-in systems with badges as rewards for the viewers, and on delivering textual chats and feeds aggregation. In essence, they are trying to create a game around an emotional experience, forgetting that the emotion is actually coming already from the television. On the other side, they are forcing users to type on a keyboard to interact with the rest of the world, losing focus of what they are watching on television (taking away from the pleasure of actually watching television). Lastly, they are engaging the audience as a whole, not considering that people like to watch television with friends, rather than a million of strangers.